Drake Maye’s historic performance in Patriots blowout win strengthens MVP case

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Drake Maye’s historic performance in Patriots blowout win strengthens MVP case

Mark Daniels · MassLive

Mon, Dec 29, 2025 ·

4 min read

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FOXBOROUGH – Drake Maye was standing on the visitors’ sideline at MetLife Stadium when he became reflective on Sunday.

The second-year quarterback has come a long way in two NFL seasons.

It was in this stadium where Maye made his NFL debut, playing in the fourth quarter of the Patriots ’ Week 3 loss to the Jets last year. The then-rookie quarterback completed 4-of-8 passes for 22 yards.

Times have certainly changed for Maye and the Patriots since then. Fast forward to Sunday, and the quarterback put together one of the most dominant performances in recent memory, completing over 90% of his passes (19/21) for 256 yards and 5 touchdowns. Most of that damage was done in the first half en route to the team’s blowout win over the Jets .

While he watched backup Joshua Dobbs play most of the second half, Maye thought back to his NFL debut last season.

“Yeah, I was thinking that in the fourth quarter. I remember my first action last year,” Maye said. “It’s pretty funny looking back, the stadium was pumped for that Thursday night game and it’s kind of full circle moment just of how far we’ve come and kind of the flip side of things, this year compared to last and how much fun we’re having out there and even had some fun last year when I got my first action, it was still pretty fun.

“But yeah, I think just try to be myself every day and don’t let anything change, and from there just trust in the Lord, and that’s what’s gotten us here, and try not to change that.”

The improvement from Year 1 to Year 2 has been remarkable for Maye, who’s in the running for MVP with Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford . His performance in Sunday’s win was eye-opening.

Maye became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for 250-plus yards with five touchdown passes and a completion percentage over 90.

In his second year, Maye surpassed 4,000 passing yards, joining Tom Brady and Drew Bledsoe as the only quarterbacks in Patriots history to reach that milestone. The second-year player also set a career-high with 5 touchdown passes. In the game, Maye set a Patriots record by throwing touchdown passes to five different players ( Hunter Henry , Rhamondre Stevenson , Efton Chism, Stefon Diggs , and Austin Hooper ).

That game marked the 13th time this season that Maye finished with a 100-plus quarterback rating. That tied Brady’s team record from 2010 and 2011. Maye has a chance to break the record in the team’s regular-season finale against Miami .

The second-year quarterback also set a Patriots record, completing 91.3% of his passes against the Jets.

The performance had teammates talking in the visitors’ locker room after Sunday’s win.

“I think the best of him,” Henry said. “There’s really no one else I would want to play with. He’s really, really special. He’s a special player, but what I think is really, really cool about him is the guy he is, too. I think everybody kind of gravitates toward that. I’m just really proud of him. “

“I think he’s pretty good. And he didn’t play the last quarter,” Diggs added. “I feel like we’re growing, going in the right direction. He keeps getting better each and every week. They keep saying this MVP stuff, so it’s time we start rolling with it.”

Following the game, Mike Vrabel gave Maye a game ball that featured scores from all the Patriots’ road wins this season. The team finished 8-0 on the road this season, an impressive feat made possible due to the feats of their quarterback.

“They don’t give me (an MVP) vote, but I would (give it to him),” Vrabel said. “There’s nobody else that we want as our quarterback or that I want as our quarterback.”

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